Mental Health Law and the Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law
This lecture focuses upon the impact of recent amendments to the Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law upon cases where the mental health of one of the participants is involved. Although the Pennsylvania Mental Health Procedures Act yields to the Child Protective Services Law for mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse, there remain a host of legal issues surrounding the subsequent handling of a child abuse investigation and legal proceedings. These issues include statutory privileges and laws and regulations governing the privacy of mental health care. The application of these statutes and regulations, including court decisions applying the same, are dependent upon the participant i.e., the child, the parent or another third party. The goal for the lecture attendee is to be able to identify issues in these areas and reach the pertinent source of law to address the salient issue.